A squad of top models with a combined social media following larger than Australia’s population walked the runway at Australian fashion week last night, for evening wear brand L’Idee Woman.
US model Taylor Hill, a former Victoria’s Secret Angel with a following of over 22M on social media, opened the show. She was joined by another former angel, Australian Shanina Shaik, along with high fashion favourite Gemma Ward, Sports Illustrated cover star Jessica Gomes and Australia’s Next Top Model success story Montana Cox.
Australian fashion week chief executive, Kellie Hush, said she “can’t even remember” the last time an Australian runway featured such a high-wattage cast. “For me it’s quite thrilling,” she said.
Casting came at significant expense and challenge for the brand, but for co-founder Breeana Smith, the investment was worthwhile. She said the dress rehearsal was one of her favourite moments of the week. “It was everything we dreamed it would be, poured out all over this beautiful venue.”
Smith said it was “a highly volatile week of logistics” to bring Hill to Australia. “It was definitely a lot of work, but we love her,” she said.
Originally, a third former angel, New Zealand model Georgia Fowler, was slated to walk for the show, but the logistics did not work out, Smith said. Fowler has modelled for L’Idee Woman before, and is “one of our favourites” Smith said. “We were extremely disappointed … but we were just so thrilled to see the result of the model casting come to life on the runway.”
High profile models “really help to establish your connection with your consumer” because “all of those beautiful women are representing their networks”.
Beyond big names, Smith said, “from the get go it was crucial to the brief to have a balanced age demographic”.
“The L’Idee Woman herself is extremely diverse, we’re selling to mothers, daughters, mothers of the bride … grandmother of the bride, often.”
For Hush, the benefit of famous models was obvious: “They sold those garments.”
The show was a shiny spectacle, featuring the pleated metallic and jewel tone gowns and floor length kaftans L’Idee Woman is best known for, alongside iridescent sequins and short satin dresses that are a more recent development for the label.
There was also a star behind the scenes, high profile creative director Pip Edwards.
Held at the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s venue, positioned on a pier over Sydney Harbour, the show had a Studio 54 atmosphere, heightened when waiters brought out small tequila bottles with straws immediately after the catwalk had concluded.
Edwards helped attract a splashy front row, many wearing L’Idee Woman gowns. The audience included a rare public outing from Jackie “O” Henderson, who is embroiled in a legal battle with her former employer ARN Media.
“We’re speaking to beautiful women wearing beautiful product for some of the most important occasions of their life,” Smith said. “So we wanted to capture that a little bit on the runway.”
Last year, Smith told Ragtrader that L’Idee Woman had grown 750% since its launch in 2019. This was the brand’s second show at Australian fashion week, after a debut in 2022.
